COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONAs with any good epic, herein lies the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics, and twists and turns as the adventure unfolds. This bottle-conditioned ale is chapter eleven. Now is the time to enjoy it in a “vertical” tasting side by side with its ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren! Each one unique to its year of release. Each with its own “twist & turn” in the plot line. Each one released one year, one month and one day from the previous year’s edition.
This year’s Stone Vertical Epic Ale is the very last one. Yep, this is it. The final chapter. Or as they say on the last slide in some old films: “Fin.” No worries though: this edition is particularly well-suited for prolonging the experience, as it’s as cellarable as any in the series, or more. In this, the final edition, you can expect a perfectly balance *womp* of spices: cinnamon, ginger, allspice, sweet orange peel, clove (only a little!) and rosehips, all in the context of a dark Belgian style abbey-ish beer…but not as sweet. Dry even. Stone style. Thanks for coming on this Epic Stone-style journey with us! You can rest assured there will be new adventures to come…

March 3, 2013 - bottle from AV. Black pour with lots of head that lasted and lacing. Aroma was cinnamon, ginger, citrus and yeast. Taste starts out a bit sweet, then moves to the spices, gets real dry and finishes with a citrus bitterness and slight alcohol. Medium to full body and relatively smooth.

UPDATED: MAR 3, 2013 22 oz bottle. Almost black with a thick brown head that lingers a bit. The aroma is sweet and full of spices: ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin pie, herbs, caramel and chocolate. Medium body with a thin, semi-dry feel. The flavor is just an onslaught of spices that is too much for me. Way over the top and hardly drinkable.

Appearance: Pours like a light chocolate syrup.
Aroma: Subtle scent of cinnamon and orange peel from the bottle; once poured, blooms into tones of nutmeg, clover, and brown sugar.
Taste and Palate: Cinnamon is the first to hit the tongue, melting into a whole-mouth brown sugar taste, only to return to a fading breath of warm, boozy cinnamon in the aftertaste.
Excellent Winter beer. Would pair well with spiced banana bread, or gingerbread cookies.

UPDATED: MAR 3, 2013 It was hard to hold off on this one until I could taste it with Strykzone. I got a case of this in McCall, Idaho at Paul’s Grocery who were kind enough to order this for me. Working off Facebook Chat, Dave and I enjoyed this one immensely It poured a very dark red that looked mostly black in the glass, and raised a big bubbled and very attractive tan head head that laced copiously. The nose greets you with a multitude of aromas.including cinnamon, molasses, dark ripe fruit, and citrus and floral hops. Bold in body the mourthfeel is rich an creamy. There is no sign of the alcohol. The flavor is much in keeping with aroma, and brings a rich mix of spices and roasted malts together. The finish is spicy with ginger and allspice, and you get some chocolate and a touch of bitterness. This is a remarkable beer, and tastes simply sumptuous. I have a feeling it will age ver well and so a number of bottles are going on the shelf in the aging cellar.

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